Offspring
by grkgrl88
Summary: This is a Smallville and XMen crossover, future fic. Clark and Lois spend a weekend in Smallville and two budding superheroes emerge.
1. Chapter 1

X-Men/Smallville (Superman) cross over/future fic and a little AU.

Disclaimer: Except for John and Samantha (my originals), I do not own these characters. I'm not making a profit from this. Just something to pass the time.

Author's Note: I started this in spring 2006, about the time that I stopped watching "Smallville." This is my goodbye to Smallville, the last spark before the fire dies.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Samantha stepped next to John.

He blinked and then turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

Samantha glanced at the wall they stood in front of and then back at John. She looked up and down the hallway and then lowered her voice. "Staring through the wall?"

John looked like he took offense to her words. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Hmm," Samantha said. She looked back towards the wall. "The girls' locker room is on the other side of this wall," she nodded towards it, "isn't it, John?"

He tried but failed to hide a smile. "Yeah, I guess it is. So?" He pulled on his backpack's strap and looked away from here.

Samantha shook her head, giggled, and began to walk down the hall. She readjusted the textbooks in her hands and beckoned John to follow her. "_So?_ Johnny Kent, is that all you have to say?" Wait 'til I tell your dad what you've been up to!"

John took a few extra steps to catch up to Samantha. "You wouldn't, Sam. I mean, come on."

Sam glanced at him and smiled. "I totally would. I will. You know you're not supposed to do stuff like that."

"Oh, okay. I see," John replied. "And you never break the rules, huh?"

"Nope."

He took a few steps ahead and turned to Samantha, walking backward as he spoke. "Today, third period. Trig class. Wanna tell me why you were reading Todd's mind?"

"What? Was not."

John laughed. "So were!" He glanced behind him. "You were completely zoned out and looking right at him! Come on, Sam, I know when you're doing your thing. What were you trying to find out? If he'll ask you to Kate's party next week?"

Samantha didn't answer.

"So I guess you were."

"You can't prove it," Samantha said, mocking him.

"Cheeks blushing, Sammy." He grinned and turned to walk next to her again.

"Fine, so I was..." Sam looked to the floor and fought back a smirk.

"Thank you." John smiled. "I thought so. Still gonna tell on me?"

Samantha looked at him and her eyes narrowed. "Aren't you clever? Fine, truce?"

John held up his hand, palm facing out. "I won't tell if you won't. Deal?"

"Yeah, deal."

Samantha and John shook hands and a moment later, they reached the exit.

"Are you taking the bus home?" Sam asked John.

"Nah, I wanna run." He smirked.

Sam giggled. "Okay, super boy," she whispered. "Just be careful."

Samantha slid her backpack off and placed it beside the coffee table. She put her books on the floor next to it and walked across the family room. "Hey, Mom, I'm home."

Jean Grey-Summers walked into the room. "Hi, Samantha. How was school today?"

"The usual. Did Dad call?"

"Yeah, actually just a few minutes ago. He should be home Sunday evening."

"Okay," Samantha said. She sat on the couch and turned on the TV.

Jean glanced at the door. "Bobby's in town so he might come over—" Just then, the doorbell rang. "Oh, that's him."

"Cool." Samantha stood up and answered the door.

Bobby smiled. "Hey, Samantha."

Sam laughed. "Ice Man!"

He stepped into the room and held up his hand for a high five. In one smooth movement, Samantha closed the door and met his hand with hers in the air. She laughed again as she turned her hand and blew snowflakes off her palm. "Very cool."

"Always good to see you, Samantha," Bobby said. He nodded towards Jean. "Hi, Dr. Grey."

Now Jean laughed. "You know you don't have to call me that, Bobby. We've known each other by first names for a long time."

"I know." Bobby's eyes sparkled.

Jean nodded. "I've got dinner ready and afterwards we can talk about what's going on at the school."

After dinner, Samantha sat in the family room and worked on her homework while Jean and Bobby sat at the kitchen table. The phone rang and Samantha said, "I'll get it."

She picked up the receiver. "Hi, John."

"Hey, Sam. You know what the interesting thing is? You don't even need Caller ID."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, you're right. I've got it built in."

"Yeah." He laughed. "So, I forgot to ask you something earlier."

"Okay."

"Well, me, my mom, and my dad are going to Smallville this weekend to visit my grandparents. You remember them, don't you?"

"Of course, they invited us to a picnic over the summer. Weekend at the farm sounds like fun."

John scoffed. "Yeah, right."

Sam leaned her elbows on her knees as she spoke into the phone. "What do you mean? It'll be a nice break from the city."

"Trust me, Metropolis is a lot more interesting."

"Okay, maybe. So what did you wanna ask me?"

"Don't you already know?" John asked.

Sam shook her head. "Come on, John. You know I don't read minds unless I have to."

Jean raised her head and looked towards Sam. Sam covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "It's okay, Mom. John's on the line."

Jean nodded and continued talking to Bobby.

"Well," John hesitated. "The thing is, I'll be the youngest one there and there's nothing to do in that town. So, I was wondering if you wanted to come. Your mom's invited, too."

Sam squinted her eyes. "What do your parents say?"

"I already asked," John replied. "Don't worry. They said it's fine. Dad even called up Grandpa to make sure it'd be okay."

Sam nodded. "Hold on, let me ask."

Sam stood up and walked with the cordless phone to the kitchen. She clasped her hand over the mouthpiece again. "Excuse me, can I interrupt for a minute?"

Bobby smiled. "Yeah, no problem."

Jean grinned. "What is it, Sammy?"

"John's on the phone. He's going to spend the weekend in Smallville with his parents and grandparents and we're invited."

"Oh," Jean glanced down to the floor. "Well, I can't go. I have a seminar to teach at Met U. If it's okay with the Kents, you can go alone, if you want. Let me talk to Clark about it."

Sam nodded and held the phone to her ear. "John? My mom says I can go. Can she talk to your dad, though?" Sam waited for John's response. She laughed. "You're welcome." Sam handed the phone to Jean.

"Hi, Clark," Jean said after holding the receiver to her ear.

"Hi, Jean. So, John explained where we're going. Can you come?"

Jean scrunched her nose. "Well, Scott is at a conference in Chicago and won't be back until Sunday. I have to teach a seminar this weekend, so I can't come; I'm sorry. Samantha can go, though, if you don't mind taking her for the weekend."

"That's fine, but it's too bad you and Scott can't come, too. Is it okay if we pick Samantha up around 3:30 tomorrow then?"

Jean nodded. "Yes, that's fine."

"Great. And we'll be back by Sunday afternoon."

"Okay, thank you for the invitation."

"Absolutely." Clark hung up the phone.

After Jean handed the phone back to Samantha, Bobby smiled. "So who's John?"

Sam smiled. "Oh, stop it. We're just friends."

"Uh huh. Yeah, sure…weekend together, I don't know…."

"Hmm!" Sam walked back into the family room. She picked up her Spanish textbook but watched Bobby. When he reached for a paper on the table, she used her telekinesis to slide it away from him and up into the air.

He moved forward to reach it, but Samantha moved her hand and it moved further away. Bobby laughed as he stood up. "Aw, come on."

Jean looked up from what she was writing. She smirked but seriously said. "Samantha…."

Samantha sighed and moved the paper into Bobby's hand. He grasped it and sat back down. "Okay, but he started it."

Samantha opened the door the next afternoon. "Hi, Mr. Kent."

"Hello, Samantha." Clark smiled. "All set?"

Jean walked into the room. "Oh, hi, Clark."

"Hi, Jean."

Samantha picked up her duffle bag and kissed Jean goodbye on the cheek. "I'll see you Sunday, Mom."

"Okay, have fun." Jean waved as Sam and Clark left. "And be good."

"Mom….." Sam smiled and closed the door behind her.

"I can take that for you," Clark offered as they walked down to the car.

Samantha handed him the duffle bag. "Thank you, and thank you for inviting me."

Clark laughed. "You're welcome. It was John's idea."

Clark popped the car's trunk and placed Sam's bag inside. He walked around the car and opened the door for Samantha. Lois was in the passenger seat and John was in the back. "Hi, Mrs. Kent," Samantha said. "Hey, John." After they both greeted her, Clark sat in the driver's seat and adjusted the rearview mirror.

"Everyone settled?" He started the car and drove off.

Clark carried their bags up to the Kent porch when they arrived. Martha was waiting at the door and held it open for Clark.

"Thanks, Ma." He smiled and moved the bags inside. Lois followed Clark in and John and Samantha walked after them.

Martha smiled and hugged John before he made it past the threshold. "Hi, sweetheart!"

"Hi, Grandma." John's voice was muffled, lost somewhere in Martha's embrace. She finally let go and held out her arms for Samantha.

"Hello, Samantha!" Martha greeted and pulled her into a gentle hug. "It's good to see you again."

Samantha smiled. "Thanks, Mrs. Kent. It's good to see you too."

Martha held Samantha at arm's length. "So how are your parents?"

"Good. Good. Dad's in Chicago for a conference and my mom has to teach a seminar this weekend."

"Oh, well, tell them we said hi." Martha smiled.

Jonathan bent down and ruffled John's hair. "Hey, kiddo. How've you been?"

John smiled. "Fine, Grandpa."

Jonathan glanced up at Clark and then back to John. "Have you been giving your dad a hard time?" He chuckled.

John turned his head, glanced at Clark, and then looked back at Jonathan. "Nah, I've been good."

"That's good to hear." Jonathan's eyes sparkled. "But he can handle a few incidents…."

Clark squinted his eyes. "Dad, you're not telling my son to misbehave, are you?"

Jonathan stood up. "No, not at all," he said sarcastically. He nudged John's arm and winked. "Just talking to my grandson."

Martha smiled. "Well, I have dinner ready. You must be hungry after that drive."

Everyone sat down at the table as Martha served mashed potatoes, pork chops, peas, and salad. Clark asked his dad about the farm and how it was going. A few minutes passed and Samantha commented, "Dinner's excellent, Mrs. Kent."

Martha smiled. "Oh, thank you, sweetheart."

Towards the end of dinner, Samantha picked up the bowl of peas and passed it to John.

"Thanks, Sam," he said as he grasped the bowl. He held the bowel next to his plate and spooned himself a second serving. He put the bowel back towards the middle of the table and continued to eat.

Jonathan, sitting at the head of the table, narrowed his eyes. He glanced at the bowl of peas, at Samantha, and then at John. He swallowed his bite of pork chop and then asked, "Um, Samantha, how did you know John wanted the peas? I guess you two really do spend a lot of time together." He smirked.

Samantha looked up at Jonathan confused. She swallowed her food, glanced at John, and said, "Didn't you ask for them?"

John thought for a moment. "Hmm, not out loud, I guess."

Samantha nodded and continued eating.

Jonathan leaned forward a little and asked, "What does that mean?"

Samantha put her fork down, ready to explain what happened. "I knew John wanted the peas, and I passed them to him before he asked for them. Sometimes when someone's going to ask me something directly, I pick it up before they say anything."

Jonathan nodded slowly. "So, you read minds?" he asked.

Samantha shook her head. "No, it's not the same. I wasn't trying to read John's mind. His thought came to me."

"She doesn't do it on purpose," Clark offered.

"Nope. It just happens." Samantha agreed.

Jonathan didn't look satisfied with that answer, so Clark offered, "It's like my hearing. I hear things sometimes when I'm not listening for them."

Jonathan leaned back in his chair. "How often does this happen?"

"Not sure." Samantha looked at John. "I guess it happens more with John. Maybe that's why we didn't notice it happened."

John nodded. "Yeah, like Dad said. Sometimes you listen for something specific and sometimes you just hear a noise. Those thoughts that just go to Samantha's mind are noise."

Samantha smiled and nodded a little towards John. He smiled back.

"But you _can_ read minds." Jonathan's voice came from the end of the table again.

John sighed and looked down at the table.

"Jonathan." Martha kept her gaze steady.

"What?" He looked slightly angry.

"We know about Samantha's abilities. You don't have to talk that way. It's rude."

Samantha looked at Martha. "It's okay, Mrs. Kent. I don't mind." She looked back at Jonathan. "Yes, Mr. Kent, I can read people's minds, but I don't do it often."

He looked menacing. "So what am I thinking now?"

Samantha looked down at her plate.

"Dad!" Clark sounded angry. He put his fork next to his plate and looked over at Jonathan. "Stop it. That _is_ rude. Where are you going with this anyway?"

"It's just a question." Jonathan glared at Samantha.

Martha stood up and placed her hand on Samantha's shoulder. "You don't have to answer that, sweetheart."

_Too late_, Samantha thought.

Martha looked at Jonathan and narrowed her eyes. "Jonathan, can I have a word with you?" Jonathan stood up and walked to the family room. "You may all be excused, if you want," Martha said as she followed Jonathan.

Clark looked at John and Samantha. Neither of them had moved. John looked up at his dad, and after Clark nodded, he got up. "Hey, Sam," John asked, "do you wanna go for a walk or something?"

Samantha looked up at John, and then turned her head towards Clark.

Clark stood up and picked up his plate. "That'd be fine. Lois and I will clean up in here."

Samantha nodded her head. "Okay." She followed John out the back door. They walked together across the fields, to the long fence that enclosed the Kent farm.

"What was that about?" John asked. "I mean, did you get what Grandpa was thinking before Grandma interrupted?"

Samantha leaned on the fence and looked at the ground. "Yeah, I got it."

After John and Samantha left the kitchen and Clark checked that they weren't coming back, Clark set the plates on the counter and walked towards the family room. He turned back to Lois, who had started washing the dishes. "Aren't you coming?" Clark asked.

Lois turned. "I thought you'd want to talk to your parents alone. You know, Kent thing."

Clark lifted his head and smiled. "Come on, you've been a Kent long enough."

Martha was talking to Jonathan when Lois and Clark entered the room. Clark noticed an angry glint in her eyes that he rarely saw. "Jonathan, Samantha is John's friend and a guest in our house. What were you doing embarrassing her like that? If there's a problem, okay, we'll talk about it, but as adults!" She took a breath. "I just don't know what's gotten into you."

"I don't—" Jonathan looked up as Clark and Lois walked closer. "I don't like the idea of her being able to read our minds anytime. Doesn't that bother you?"

Clark's jaw dropped. "_What??_"

Jonathan took a breath. "I mean—"

Clark shook his head and interrupted. "Dad, I can't believe you just said that! You of all people should be able to accept people with special abilities. Since when does it bother you?"

Jonathan held up a hand. "This is different."

Clark shook his head. "Really? How?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"We're talking about privacy of our thoughts!"

Clark nodded and paused a moment. "Okay, fine. Remember when I first developed my X-ray vision in high school?"

Jonathan nodded.

"You never told me how to use it. What was stopping me from looking through girls' clothing during lunch?"

Martha's eyes widened. She knew both Kent men were stubborn and this argument was hot enough. Neither was likely to back down.

Jonathan swallowed. "Nothing stopped you from doing that."

"You never told me not to?" Clark asked, already knowing the answer.

"No."

"Right, and why not?"

Jonathan fixed his stare on Clark. He knew he was going along step by step with Clark's argument. Clark was working ahead and already knew the points he would make. There was a time when Jonathan easily won disputes with Clark. When Clark was in high school, he didn't pay attention to every detail and it often was his downfall, but Clark had matured immensely into adulthood and had grown wiser. Now, his logic was flawless.

Jonathan finally replied, "Your mother and I raised you to respect other people and their privacy and we knew you followed that teaching with your abilities too. We knew you wouldn't use your X-ray vision for something like that because you'd be going against our values."

Clark nodded. "I never X-rayed girls like that. And you're right, the main reason is because of how you and Mom raised me."

Jonathan realized the final link before Clark said it.

"The same goes for Samantha. Her parents have taught her how important privacy is. She knows what she's capable of, and she knows when it's appropriate to look into another person's thoughts. I trust her completely with that. There was no reason to come down on her so hard at dinner. She didn't do anything wrong."

Jonathan nodded. "It's not just the privacy issue."

"What else?" Lois asked.

The sun was setting as Samantha zippered up her sweater. "Your grandpa doesn't like how close we are."

"What?" John asked. "Does he think we're, like, dating?"

Samantha smiled a little. "No, not like that. He doesn't like how much I know about your secret, especially about your dad. You know, Clark Kent is Superman."

John scoffed. "Like that's fair. I know just as much about you and your parents."

"I know, but he thinks that it's risky, that it could be dangerous."

John stood up straighter. "Yeah, of course it's dangerous. My dad's an alien, which makes me half one. You and your parents are mutants, and none of us would exactly be 'accepted' if people knew the truth. It's dangerous if anyone finds out either secret."

"That's true."

"So you're no more of a risk to me than I am to you."

"Right."

"So he shouldn't have a problem with that." John shook his head and leaned against the fence, looking out over the pasture.


	2. Chapter 2

"You think she's a _risk_ to us, to _me_?" Clark was astounded, absolutely confounded by what his father was saying.

Jonathan bent his head slightly forward. "Come on, Clark, think about it. How safe is it to have more people know your secret identity?"

Clark let out a quick sigh. "You sound like I told everyone in Metropolis. We're talking about Jean, Scott, and Samantha. Yes, they know about my abilities and John's. And we know about theirs. Both families have to protect their own secret and protect another. It's fair, it's mutual."

Jonathan shook his head. "I don't like it." He put his hands on his hips. "What if someone makes a mistake? Then you're all in trouble."

Lois fired back this time. "But if everyone's in trouble, then everyone can help each other too. Since I'm the only one in both families with no superpowers, I think I can say that if we're in trouble, I'd rather have five people with superpowers helping out than two."

Clark kept his smile to himself. "That's how it is. We work together and we help each other out. How do you think John and Sam got to be such good friends? Our families spend a lot of time together. And the kids are great together. They can relate to each other, they understand what it's like to have this kind of secret. I don't see a risk that's there with both families that isn't there with just one."

Jonathan lifted his head. "Okay, so everything is fine now. What about the future? What if something happens and they threaten to expose you?"

"That's not going to happen."

Martha didn't want to be in between Clark and Jonathan, but she had to add her thoughts. "Clark, you don't really know that. It seems unlikely now, but it's a possibility."

Clark shrugged. "Then we'll deal with it then."

Jonathan looked down at his hands and grinned. "Yeah, that's a good plan."

Clark stopped pacing the room and faced him. "Look, Dad, right now, there's no problem. What you said at dinner caused a problem. You dared Samantha to read your mind, and I hope she didn't. If she did, all she got were insults to make her miserable."

It was dark now, and Samantha glanced back towards the house. "Think they're done yet?"

John looked at the house too. "Done with what?"

"Arguing about what your grandpa said at dinner."

John squinted his eyes. "You knew?"

Samantha smiled. "I saw your dad nod to you for us to leave."

John laughed. "Oh. Yeah, he's probably been going at it with Grandpa."

"Your grandma seemed pretty angry too."

John nodded. "She's the only one Grandpa will listen to."

"Are we done now?" Lois asked. No one had said anything since Clark's last comment.

Martha watched Jonathan. He didn't move to say anything else. "I guess so," she said and looked at Clark. "Where are John and Sam?"

Clark looked up from the floor. "They went for a walk." He squinted and looked around the room. The walls blurred and faded away as he switched into X-ray mode. He blinked his eyes. "They're in the far field, at the fence. I'll go get them."

Martha nodded. "Okay. It's getting late. We should get to bed."

Thump. Thump. Sam lied awake in her room. She glanced at the clock radio on the nightstand. 2:30 a.m. Thump. Thump. Samantha sighed. She had been hearing the thumping noise for the past few minutes, and it didn't seem like it would stop. She sat up in bed and then stepped off and walked to the door. Thump. Thump. She could tell it was coming from the next room—John's room. She walked out into the hallway and opened his door a little wider. His bed was empty and she still heard the noise. Samantha glanced toward the ceiling and then held her gaze there. "Whoa…." she whispered to herself as she stepped into the room. John was floating near the ceiling, still in a lying position, with a bed sheet somewhat over him but mostly hanging down. His dark hair was ruffled and stuck out at odd spots. Now Sam saw the source of the noise. Every few seconds, John would rise a little higher and bump against the ceiling. Thanks to his invulnerability, though, he didn't feel it.

"John!" Samantha sharply whispered. Then a little louder, "John, wake up." John didn't respond. "John!" Samantha tried once more. "Okay, fine, need backup," she said to herself.

She walked down the hall to the room John's parents were sleeping in. She tapped on the door.

"Come in," Clark's voice was quiet, but it carried out to her.

Samantha walked into the room and Clark sat up in bed. "Oh, Samantha, is there a problem? You okay?"

"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Kent. I'm fine, but John…John is in his room, um, floating."

Even in the dark, Clark's eyes shined. "Floating?"

"Yeah," Samantha replied. She pointed up with her index finger. "He keeps bumping up against the ceiling. I tried to wake him, but I couldn't."

"Okay." Clark got out of bed and walked with Sam to John's room. He flicked on the light and looked up. "This has been going on for a few weeks now."

"Really?" Sam looked up at Clark.

"Yeah," he shifted his gaze to Sam, "and two weeks ago, he actually crashed down on his bed at home." Clark grinned and shook his head. "I did the same thing in high school."

"Hmm. He hasn't mentioned anything about this."

Clark shrugged. "Now you'll be able to talk about it." He looked up at John again.

"Hey, John. Come on, get up."

John still didn't respond.

Clark narrowed his eyes and then looked at Samantha. "Do you mind if I go up there to wake him up?"

Samantha shook her head. "No, go ahead."

"Okay." Clark bent his knees and floated up next to John. Samantha kept a smile to herself. Who else had the chance to see Superman in a blue T-shirt and plaid pajamas? Clark looked down to Sam. "See, he's a heavy sleeper. Takes after his mom." Clark smiled and then rubbed John's shoulder. "Come on, buddy. Wake up."

Samantha pictured herself dumping a bucket of cold water on John. That would definitely get him up. She smiled to herself.

John shook his head as he woke up. "Whoa!" He looked from side to side, sat up, and then realized he was up in the air. "What?" He barely had time to get the question out before he started falling. Clark moved to catch his son.

"Oh, got you," Samantha said. She held her right arm out, palm facing out and fingers curved. Clark glanced at her and then floated away from John, still in mid-air, and back to the floor. As Sam lowered her hand, John's body lowered onto the bed. At the moment John touched the bed, he snapped his head around and faced Samantha.

"Sam, what was that for?" He rubbed his head. "That was so weird…"

Clark squinted his eyes. "John, Samantha just caught you. It was nothing to be mad about."

Samantha looked at Clark. "No, he's not talking about that."

Lois walked into the room, yawning. "Hey, what's all the noise? What's going on?" She leaned in the doorway.

Clark stood with Lois. "We were just about to find out." He looked at Samantha with a confused expression.

"I…I'm not exactly sure what happened." She looked at John. "But while your dad was trying to wake you up, I pictured myself throwing a bucket full of water on you. Sort of random, but that would get you up. I just thought of it, but I think I made you see it."

John nodded. "Yeah, and it was cold!"

Samantha blushed a little. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it."

John nodded. "Okay." He straightened his bed sheets around himself.

"Wait a minute." Clark stepped forward. "Samantha, you can make people believe things that haven't happened?"

Samantha shook her head. "Not really. I imagined something and accidentally sent it to John. I think if he were awake, he would have realized it wasn't real. But being asleep confused him."

"So people wouldn't actually believe it?" Lois asked. "What would they think it is, then?"

Samantha shrugged. "Just an idea, a thought, I guess. They probably wouldn't even realize it wasn't their own thought."

"Hmm," Clark said as he thought more on it.

"I can't really control it yet," Samantha added. "Just now, that was an accident. I didn't even realize what happened until John woke up."

John yawned. "And no harm done. Can we go back to sleep now?"

Clark looked at John. "Yeah, sure…..are you okay?"

John nodded. "Fine."

"Okay then." Clark held Lois's hand. "Samantha, thank you for catching John. Good reflexes."

Samantha smiled a little. "Yeah, no problem. Thanks."

Clark and Lois walked back to their room.

Samantha walked to John's bedside. "Hey, are you really okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you see me float?" John smiled.

Sam laughed. "Yeah, and it's so awesome! Why didn't you tell me about it before?" She nudged his arm.

John shrugged. "I guess I wanted to get a better handle on it first."

"Okay." After a moment, Samantha asked, "Do you think I freaked out your parents with that thought thing?"

John shook his head. "Probably not. Maybe made them uncomfortable, that's all. Only because they don't know much about what you can do with it."

Sam nodded. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to do it."

John held her hand. "Hey, don't worry about it. It'll be all right. I definitely think it's cool."

Samantha smiled. "Thanks."

"Yeah, there's good potential in pranks there, I think." He winked.

"No, none of that, Johnny Kent." Samantha laughed.

"Nah, just kidding. 'Night, Sam."

"Good night, John." Samantha walked towards the door.

"Hey, Sam?" John lied back down in his bed and pulled the sheets up.

Samantha turned back to him. "Yeah?"

"Could you get the lights on the way out?"

After breakfast, Samantha and John went out to the barn to help Jonathan with the chores. When they walked in, he was bailing hay. "Hey, kids. I really appreciate your help."

"Sure," John said. "What should we do?"

Jonathan nodded and glanced at Samantha. He felt a little embarrassed about what happened the previous night at dinner, but he didn't know what to say. "Well," he handed the pitchfork to John, "you can finish the hay." He walked past John to Samantha. "And, Samantha," he smiled, "would you like to milk the cows?"

Samantha nodded. "Okay, Mr. Kent."

"Okay." He led her to the stalls and moved a stool for her to sit on. "Have a seat there. Done this before?"

"Nope." Samantha squatted on the stool looked up at him.

"Okay, you'll get the hand of it quickly." He smiled and pushed a metal bucket below the cow. Jonathan squatted down, grasped one of the nipples, and squirted milk into the bucket. "You have to work the milk down. Just squeezing won't do it." He moved his hand away and stood up. He looked at Samantha and gestured toward the cow. "You try."

Samantha held the same nipple and moved her hand down, gently squeezing as she did. A stream of milk squirted into the bucket. Jonathan smiled. "Good. Get two hands going with a rhythm, and it's a piece of cake." He patted her on the shoulder. "I'll be outside if you need anything."

Samantha looked up and smiled. "Okay."

Jonathan nodded. He turned to walk out of the barn but then turned back. "Uh, Samantha?"

She looked up again. "Yes, Mr. Kent?"

"I'm sorry about last night at dinner. I was out of line and what I said was rude."

Samantha smiled a little. "It's okay. I understand that you have questions about what I can do. If you have any others, I can try to answer."

Jonathan nodded. "Thank you, but it's fine. I'm sorry again for what I said." Jonathan turned again and walked out of the barn.

Thirty minutes later, John walked into the stalls. "Hey, Sam, you almost done?"

Sam looked at him and laughed. "Hi, John. This is the last one." She bent down and continued milking the cow.

"Good." He leaned against the door. "I've been thinking."

Samantha smiled. "Yeah."

"With my floating thing, I don't know how to control it. I don't know how I do it in the first place."

"You'll get it. I'm sure your dad can help you."

John nodded. "I know, I know. I was hoping you could help me too."

Samantha stopped milking the cow and glanced up at him. "Me? How? I levitate too, but it's different than how you or your dad do it."

John crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the ceiling. "I know that, and I'm not asking for flying lessons. I was thinking maybe you could look around in my mind and find times when I did float. I'm half asleep when it happens, so I don't really remember." He looked back at her. "If you can help me remember what it's like, maybe I can learn how to do it when I'm awake."

Samantha nodded slowly. "I'd have to go pretty deep into your mind for that." She bent below the cow once more to finish milking her.

"I know. Are you okay to do that, or should we wait 'til we get back to Metropolis so your mom can help us?"

Samantha backed up on the stool and pulled the filled bucket out. "I can do it. You want to today?"

John grinned and bent down to pick up the other two buckets. "Yeah, I was thinking in a couple of minutes."

Samantha nodded and picked up the third bucket. She followed John out of the stall and they met Jonathan in the barn. "All finished?" he asked.

"Yes," Samantha replied. "Where should we put these?" She nodded to the buckets John held and lifted her own up a little.

"You can bring them over here." Jonathan waved them towards a machine on the side of the barn. The front of it had a control panel but otherwise, it was a large rectangular metal box. Samantha noticed a door near where Jonathan stood. "The milk needs to be homogenized and pasteurized. If you set the buckets down here, I'll take care of it." John and Samantha carried the buckets to him. "Thank you for your help."

They both nodded. "Anything else?" John asked.

"No, thank you," Jonathan replied and smiled. "You two are off duty."

John smiled. He nodded outside and he and Sam walked together.

When they were out of earshot, Samantha asked, "So where do you want to do this?"

John looked back at the barn. "In the loft. Grandpa should be done in the barn in a minute. Then it'll be empty and we can see if my idea works." After a moment, they watched Jonathan leave the barn with a few tools. "Okay, here we go."

Samantha climbed the steps after John. She looked around at the desk and the couch and smiled. John saw her expression and commented, "My dad used to spend a lot of time up here when he was in high school."

"Very cool."

"Yeah." John looked around. It looked the same as the last time he had visited. "So, what would be better? Standing or sitting?"

Samantha thought for a moment. "Sitting on the floor, probably."

"Okay." John picked up the small coffee table on his own and moved it to against the couch.

They sat cross-legged, facing each other in the middle of the loft floor. "Okay," Sam said. She leaned in closer to John. "You'll need to close your eyes and try to keep your mind blank." John nodded and closed his eyes. "If anything hurts or it feels weird or whatever, let me know."

"All right."

Samantha held her hands open on either side of John's head. "Okay...keep your mind blank." John took a deep breath. Samantha closed her eyes and did the same.

She took in a sharp breath as she saw images from John's mind fly into her own. She watched each as it passed, looking for a memory when he was asleep. From his point of view, she saw him wake up and look down to the floor below, saw him fall into bed. The memory passed and another came into focus. This time, he woke up looking down at the floor. He gasped and the light in the room turned on. "John!" It was Lois's voice. Another memory came into focus, and Samantha realized it was from last night. Now she felt the cold water she mentally sent him. John snapped awake and saw Clark floating next to him. Then he looked down and realized he was up in the air. John fell…and stopped at the split second she herself had caught him. Samantha realized now that John had watched her admiringly as she lowered him to the bed.

Samantha shook her head and opened her eyes. She and John still sat in the same position, but now she saw that they were a few feet off the floor. She looked at John, and he still kept his eyes closed. She didn't move her hands away from him, thinking he was still in last night's memory. When Samantha saw that his facial expression relaxed, she whispered, "John?"

He shook his head and opened his eyes. He focused first on her face, so he didn't realize they were floating. Samantha lowered her hands and laughed. "Look down." As John moved his eyes, she reached for his hands.

"Whoa…"

She felt him start to lower and held his hands tighter. "No, John, calm down." Samantha spoke softly. "See if you can stay up."

He looked up into her face again. Samantha loosened her grip. "Did you make us float?" he asked.

Samantha shook her head. "I think you did, and I just followed so that I could still read your mind."

John nodded. "Okay, weird. So, um, could we go back down now?"

Samantha laughed. "Yeah." She let go of his hands. And he fell down a few inches a little too fast. "John." She held him with her telekinesis now and lowered him to the floor as she sat back on the floor too.

John blushed a little. "Thanks."

Samantha smiled. "Sure. Did you see the memories?"

John nodded. "Yeah, and they were crystal clear. You did a really good job bringing them up."

Now Samantha blushed. She looked down to the floor. "Oh, thanks."

John stood up and held his hand out to help Samantha up. She took it and stood. "Seriously," he said, "it was perfect." He moved the coffee table back to its original position and then glanced toward the loft opening. He moved closer to the edge and looked down. John turned back to grin at Samantha. "I think we need a test flight."

She grinned too. "What?" But she knew exactly what he meant. "You've only floated a couple of feet without realizing it, John."

He shrugged. "I know, but it's not like jumping is going to hurt."

Samantha giggled and took a half step back. "All right then."

John laughed and jumped out the window, pinching his nose in one hand as if he were jumping into a pool. Samantha rushed over to watch him land. He bent his knees and gracefully landed on the ground below. He turned and looked back up at her, smiling. "Your turn."

Samantha walked straight out of the window, keeping herself in the air. She looked down at John. "What, you want someone to show you how it's done?"

John scoffed. "Nah, just having a little fun."

Samantha lowered herself to the ground and landed next to John. "Did you even try keeping yourself up?" she asked.

John shook his head, laughing. "Nope. I just wanted to jump."


	3. Chapter 3

Later in the afternoon, Clark found John and Samantha walking together across the farm and jogged up next to them.

"Hey, kids." He smiled. "Grandma needs a few things, so Lois and I are going into town. Do you two want to come along?"

John glanced at Samantha, who nodded, and then said, "Yeah, sure."

Clark drove his car and parked on the sidewalk outside of the Smallville General Store. When the four got out, John looked up and down the street. "Hey, Dad," he said, "can Sam and I walk around?"

Clark shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. Mom and I will be about fifteen minutes. Then how about we meet over there," he nodded across the street, "at the Talon. We can get some ice cream or something, but just don't tell Grandma when we get back." Clark laughed. "She'll say I spoiled your appetites."

John smiled. "Okay. See you over there, then."

Samantha waved goodbye and then followed John down the street. She looked around at the small, family-owned businesses. "It's nice here," she commented. "Peaceful, not busy and rushing like Metropolis."

John nodded. "Yeah, it's okay. I like big cities, though."

They walked together for several minutes and then Samantha glanced through the window of Smallville Savings and Loan. She paused there as John walked ahead. After a moment, Samantha looked up the street and called him back. "Hey, John, come here."

John turned around. "What?" He walked back to her and looked in the window.

Samantha squinted her eyes. "Do you see that guy on the left at the counter?" She quietly spoke to him.

"Yeah."

"And the one across the room reading the bulletin board?"

"Yeah, so what?"

Samantha took a step back. "They're planning to rob this bank tonight."

John looked at her. "What?? Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Samantha cupped her hands around her eyes and glanced in the window again. "They're checking out the cameras, the exits. They're both thinking about it right now."

John looked at the two men again. "Wait, are they working together?"

Samantha turned to him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm positive."

John looked at her and shook his head. "Come on." He waved his hand and continued down the sidewalk.

"But John—"

"No, come on." He checked his watch. "Mom and Dad will be expecting us back soon. We can talk about it on the way to the Talon."

"Okay." Samantha walked after him.

"Do you know what time?" John asked and looked sideways at her.

"Of the robbery?"

"Yeah."

"Midnight tonight. They're gonna try getting in the back."

"Oh man."

Samantha turned to John. "We should tell your dad. He can stop them no problem."

"No, wait a second." John paused on the sidewalk for a moment, nodded, and then continued walking. "We're not going to tell anyone."

Samantha looked over at him. "What, why not?"

"We'll stop the robbery ourselves."

Sam laughed. "Come on, John. You know we can't do that."

"Why not?"

Samantha rounded on the sidewalk in front of John and held her hand out to stop him. "We're not supposed to. The last thing our parents want us to do is go out and play superheroes."

John scoffed and stepped around her. "No, the last thing they want is us to use our powers at all. It's perfectly fine for them to go out and help people, but we're not I_allowed/I_ to."

Samantha shook her head and turned next to him again. "But, John, even if things were different, neither of us has any experience in stopping a robbery or fighting any other crime." She lowered her voice. "We only use our powers casually. Your dad, on the other hand, does this all the time. We'll tell him what's going to happen tonight. We're still helping."

"It's not the same." John opened the door to the Talon and held it for Samantha. "Look, just don't say anything yet, okay?"

Samantha sighed but agreed.

"My mom and dad are already waiting at a table. Just act like nothing's up." He motioned for her to walk through first.

"John, I don't like this," Samantha said as she walked in. She turned her head and added, "There's no way we're going to stop those guys tonight."

John lowered his voice as they walked through the coffee shop. "Sam, knowing what we can do, do you think we're capable of stopping them?"

"Yes, but—"

"No doubt. We'll talk about it later." He smiled and waved to his parents. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad."

Samantha took a breath and smiled too. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Kent."

Clark grinned at Samantha and John as they sat down. "So how's small-town life?" Clark asked.

Lois laughed when John rolled his eyes. "A little boring, maybe?" she asked. "I know it's really different from Metropolis, but I hope you two found it bearable."

John nodded his head. "It's not too bad." He glanced at Samantha. "And who knows? Maybe we'll find something interesting."

After dinner and after Samantha and John left the cleared table, Clark glanced over at Jonathan. "Dad, Mom, I need to talk to you about something."

Lois nodded at Clark, already knowing the subject.

Martha looked at Clark. "Is something wrong, honey?"

Clark shook his head to reassure his mom. "No, nothing's wrong." Clark glanced at the table, thinking about how to explain to his parents. "John's abilities are almost fully matured. You know he was floating in his sleep last night? That's been happening for a while. Once he can control that, it's the last step, flight." He looked up at his parents now. "We know John has inherited my abilities, but some of them aren't as strong as mine. Lois and I have been talking about this, and we need to know if he's also inherited my weakness."

Jonathan sat a little straighter in his chair.

Clark glanced at him but continued talking. "So we thought we should test it, and it'd be perfect to do while we're here on the farm."

Martha gasped. "You mean to use—"

Lois added, "We just want to see if he has the same reaction to it. If something happens in the future with Kryptonite, we have to know how John will be affected."

Jonathan nodded. "Have you talked to John about it yet?"

"No," Clark replied. "He knows that Kryptonite hurts me, but we haven't talked about its affect on him. Lois and I were going to explain it to him tonight and test it in the barn."

"Okay."

"But we don't want Samantha involved. Could you two keep her busy while we're outside?"

Martha nodded. "Yes, sweetheart, of course. But why is Samantha knowing a problem?"

"Well, it isn't really a problem," Lois said. "We just think John might be upset if something happens, maybe a little embarrassed. Samantha has never seen him in any kind of pain."

Clark nodded. "He can tell her about if he wants, though. That's up to him."

John and Samantha walked through the back door, giggling. The adults watched as they came back to the table.

"So what are we doing?" John asked.

Martha glanced at Clark and stood up. "Actually, I have some sewing finish up, but my things are upstairs." She looked at Samantha. "Samantha, would you mind coming upstairs with me to get it? I just don't want to make two trips. I can't handle as many steps as when I was younger." She smiled.

"Sure, Mrs. Kent." Samantha smiled and followed her up the stairs.

When they were out of sight, Jonathan cleared his throat. "Um, Clark, wasn't there something you wanted to show John in the barn?"

Clark appreciated how his parents thought so quickly to help him in his plan. "Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me." He glanced at John. "Come on." Clark stood up, opened the door and held it for John and Lois. Before he went out, he turned back and mouthed, "Thank you," to his dad.

Jonathan nodded.

As they entered the barn, John looked around. Nothing seemed different inside. "What did you want to show me, Dad?" He turned around to face his parents.

"Actually," Clark started, "we need to talk about something."

John squinted his eyes. "Okay, what?"

Clark took a deep breath. "Well, we've told you before about Kryptonite."

Samantha and Martha walked back down the stairs together. Jonathan now sat in the family room with the news on the TV. Martha led Samantha to the couch. "You can put those down there, dear." She nodded to the coffee table.

Samantha put the basket of spools, needles, pins, and scraps of fabric on the table and looked into the kitchen. "Where did John go? And Mr. and Mrs. Kent?"

Jonathan replied, "They went out to the barn for a few minutes. They'll be back in soon."

"Oh."

"You can have a seat with us," Martha said warmly. She sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her.

"Okay." Samantha sat down next to her, but something seemed wrong. She glanced at Mr. Kent and then at the TV.

"So how are we gonna test if it hurts me?" John asked.

Clark was surprised at how well his son was handling this. Lois rejoined them with a small lead box in her hands. Clark pointed to it. "There's piece of Kryptonite in there. Mom's gonna open it and we'll see what happens. If you do feel any pain, it'll be gone after she closes it, okay?"

John hesitated but then said, "Okay."

Clark nodded. He took a few steps away from them.

"I'm sorry, honey," Lois said, "but we really do need to know how it affects you."

John nodded. "I know. It's okay." He took a deep breath.

Lois breathed in and lifted the lid. The glowing green rock shined on John's face. Lois watched as his facial expression turned first to discomfort and then to pain. His squinted his eyes and took in sharp breaths. John brought his arms closer to his body and then crossed them over his stomach as he doubled over onto the floor.

"Ah!" Samantha held her hands over her head and bent over in her seat.

Martha gasped and placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Samantha, what's wrong?"

Samantha felt a throbbing pain in her head, in her whole body. This was sudden and intense, and again she yelled in pain. "Oh!" She breathed heavily, trying to figure out what was causing the pain.

John lay on the floor now, bent in half and panting in pain. Lois's eyes filled with tears and she muttered, "I'm so sorry, honey." She glanced over at Clark, who was safely away from the radioactive rock. Lois pleaded with her eyes to end it.

"No," Clark said quietly, "just a little longer. We need to see how bad it is." He nodded towards John. "Take it a little closer."

Lois shook her head in protest, but Clark nodded toward John again. Lois bit her lip and took a few steps closer to John.

John called out in pain. "Ah!…" His face was twisted in pain and tears formed at the corners of his eyes. John bent his head closer to his knees as he twisted on the floor.

Lois grimaced as she saw her son's veins pulsing green in his arms. Tears fell from her face. "I am so sorry, John…"

Samantha still held her head and gasped in pain.

Jonathan squatted in front of her. "Samantha, can you hear me? What's wrong?" He held her shoulder and bent his head in an effort to make eye contact.

Martha looked from her husband to Samantha in horror. "What's happening?" she whispered.

Samantha's thoughts raced around her mind. Why was she in pain? There was no reason for it. And it came so suddenly, and it was so much. Her muscles were burning. Her bones we stretching and bending, warping away from each other, and her skull felt as if it would burst and a moment later, implode.

Samantha took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. This was not her own pain, she was sure of it. But then, who was really hurt? Who needed help?

Suddenly, the pain lessened. Samantha gasped and stood up. "John." She looked towards the back door. "It's John." She took a step towards the kitchen, but Jonathan grasped her hand.

He stood up. "Samantha, what's going on?"

Samantha turned back to him. "It's John. He's in a lot of pain," she tried to say patiently. She turned her head back towards the door. "But I don't know why. He never gets hurt. He can't get hurt." She furrowed her eyebrows and turned back to face the Kents. "I'm sorry, I'm not making sense. Sometimes when people I know are in a lot of pain, I can feel it. I can tell when they need help, and right now, something's happening to John. I need to see if I can help, if I can stop it."

Jonathan looked at her, trying to understand everything she had just said. He shook his head and let go of her hand. This girl was truly remarkable. "John doesn't need help," he finally said with a sigh.

Samantha looked at him, confused. "What?"

"It's Clark's weakness."

Samantha leaned backward on her heels. "Kryptonite? If that's it, I can help." She started for the door again.

"No, don't. Have a seat, and I'll explain."

Jonathan slowly sat back on the couch. He couldn't believe Samantha knew about Kryptonite. Why would Clark tell a teenage girl the only thing that could hurt him?

Martha turned towards Samantha as she walked back to the couch. "Are you okay now, Samantha?"

Samantha nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, but John's still in pain. I don't understand what's going on…" She glanced once more towards the door.

Jonathan began, "You know what Kryptonite does to Clark?"

"Yeah, it puts him in a lot of pain. But John—"

Jonathan sat back in the recliner. "Clark and Lois needed to know if Kryptonite affected John in the same way, so they're testing it in the barn."

Still crying, Lois finally shut the lid to stop the Kryptonite's affects. She hastily placed the box on the table behind her and bent over to help John. He was sweating and pale in the face, but his breathing was returning to normal. Lois helped him sit up.

"Thanks, Mom," John said.

Lois laughed through her tears. "I don't know if you should be thanking me, kiddo."

Clark walked over and bent down in front of John. "Hey, buddy." Clark sounded concerned. He patted John's head and smoothed his hair. "Are you okay? I'm really sorry we had to do that."

John shook his head. "Don't be. We needed to know. I'll be fine." He smiled weakly, "How'd I do?"

Clark laughed. "I can't believe you're already joking about it."

John shrugged, and Lois smiled, wiping away her tears.

"Actually, you did really well," Clark continued. "You were in a lot of pain, and I don't know for sure, but I think if I was exposed for as long as you were, I'd be in worse shape."

"Hmm," John said. "So that's kind of good."

Lois hugged him. "Oh, honey!"

"And they just stuck a rock in front of him??" Samantha couldn't believe everyone else was okay with this.

"Hey," Jonathan didn't want her to make a big deal of this. "They needed to find out what would happen. John knew what they were doing ahead of time."

"But still…"

"I have a question for you."

Martha sent a warning glance at Jonathan. He waved a hand at her, signaling it would be okay.

"Okay," Samantha said. She was actually happy for a subject change, even if Mr. Kent was going to ask about her abilities. If they kept talking about John's "test," Samantha knew she would lose her temper. She understood that it was necessary, but it still seemed cruel.

"When you realized it was Kryptonite, you said you could help. How?"

"Oh." Samantha leaned back in the couch. "I've saved Clark from Kryptonite before."

"Really?" Martha asked, astonished.

Samantha blushed a little. "Yeah, it was last year. That's how I found out about Kryptonite, actually." She looked at Jonathan. "It's not like he came over to the apartment one day and just told me."

Jonathan felt embarrassed. He kept jumping to conclusions about Samantha, whether she knew it or not, and it wasn't fair to her. "What happened?"

"When we moved to Metropolis, years ago when I was five, my mom and Clark decided to have a little emergency signal, just in case. Clark has a little pager-like device in his suit's belt. When he pushes it, it sends a signal to a box in our apartment with his location. Clark didn't like the idea of it. Metropolis is his city, his responsibility, and I guess he's a little stubborn about asking for help."

Martha smiled. "He can be very stubborn."

"Yeah," Samantha laughed, "but he agreed to keep it with him. All of these years, Clark has used it four times, and my mom has gone out to help him. Either with the bad guys themselves or taking care of something afterwards. Last year, the fourth time, my mom wasn't home. So I answered."

Jonathan leaned his elbows in his lap now, interested in Samantha's story. "Hmm. So, what happened?"

Samantha sat at home in the evening, finishing her homework. She glanced at the clock, 9:00. Her mom was in New York at the Xavier school until tomorrow, and her dad was at the grocery store.

"Done," Samantha said to herself. She closed her chemistry book and put her notes away. She turned on the TV, and a second later, heard a ringing. Samantha picked up the remote and turned the TV off. "Uh oh."

She walked over to the cabinet below the bookshelf. She opened the door and saw the black box blinking. "Tonight, Mr. Kent?" Samantha sighed. She picked up the smaller blinking device and read the coordinates. "Well, it's me or no one, sorry." Samantha pulled on a sweatshirt and picked up her key chain and her bicycle helmet. She left the parking garage below, feet spinning as she pedaled faster. "I'm so gonna pay for this," she said to herself.

Samantha checked the pager, and it was still blinking. She looked ahead on the road. "Next left, okay…." She pushed her bike into a side alley, twisted off her helmet, hung it on the handle, and ran back out to the street.

She ran to the end of the block, to the jewelry store. The front window was broken, and glass pieces littered the sidewalk. She saw Clark—well, Superman—inside. He lied on the floor with his back to her. Samantha looked up and down the street. She didn't see anyone running away or hear any sirens yet.

She carefully jumped through the large window and kneeled next to Clark. "I'm here," she whispered as she looked around the store. "What's wrong?"

Clark looked up at her and squinted his eyes. "Samantha?" He took a breath. Samantha could see that he was in a lot of pain. "Where's Jean?"

Samantha shook her head. "Out of town. What do you need me to do?"

Clark moved to sit up, and Samantha helped him. "You shouldn't be here," he said. "That signal is meant for your mom or dad. Not you—under any circumstance."

Samantha kept her face solemn. "Well, now you've got me. Tell me what I should do. Why are you hurt?"

Clark still took deep breaths. He nodded in front of them, to a few pieces of jewelry on the floor. "The rings over there…with the green stones. It's my weakness…. Kryptonite. You need to get rid of it."

Samantha glanced at the pile of jewelry and then back to Clark. She walked over to the counter, bent down, and picked up one of the rings. "This?" she said.

Clark nodded.

"Okay, how about this…" Samantha held her other hand up. A translucent bubble formed around Clark.

Clark squinted his eyes. It was barely visible, but for a split second, he caught a glimpse of the sphere around him. Clark looked down at his hands. His veins had stopped pulsing, even though the Kryptonite was still near him. "What's this?" he asked Samantha.

Samantha watched Clark carefully. "Force field. Is the pain going away?"

Clark was amazed. He nodded. "Yeah…you're…blocking it out?"

Samantha smiled, proud that her idea had worked. "Yeah, exactly." She glanced out of the store. "The police will be coming soon. What should I do with the rings?"

Clark looked around the store with his X-ray vision. "There," he pointed to the left wall. "That vase is made of lead. Put the rings in it."

Samantha did as he said, even though she didn't understand why.

Clark saw her expression of confusion and explained, "Lead is the only thing that will block Kryptonite's effects on me." He looked up at the force field again. "Well, I thought it was the only thing." He gestured to the area around him. "You can take this off now."

"Okay." Samantha waved her hand in front of her.

Clark stood and looked outside. "I can hear the police coming. You need to get out of here."

Samantha pointed at the vase. "What about the rings?"

"Um…" Clark thought. "How strong is your telekinesis?"

Samantha looked at him, confused.

"If I heat the vase, could you bend it so it closes around the rings, like a box?"

Samantha nodded her head. "I think so."

"Okay, but we can't stay in here." Clark looked up and squinted his eyes. He looked back at Samantha a moment later. "We should be okay on the roof. C'mon. I don't want you mixed up in any of this."

Samantha carried the vase and followed Clark out into the alley. She floated after him up to the roof.

"Here…" Samantha let go of the vase but held up her hands, palms out, and moved the vase between herself and Clark.

"Ready?" Clark asked.

"Yeah." Samantha stared at the vase.

Clark leaned a little forward and squinted his eyes. Bursts of heat traveled to the vase, warming it until the lip of the vase began to bend inward.

Samantha moved her hands to mold the melting lead. She narrowed her eyes and moved closer to it. Clark stopped heating it and watched as the lead curved in to seal the top. When Samantha had finished, she opened her hands to pick it up out of the air.

"No, don't," Clark said. "It'll be hot."

Samantha blinked her eyes and looked up at him. "Oh, right." She laughed and took a step back.

Clark nodded, closed his hands around the vase, and set it on the roof.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Samantha asked.

Clark pointed up into the night sky. "Fly it out, but you're going home first."

Samantha looked out over the rooftops. "My bike…"

"Where is it?"

Samantha pointed. "Three alleys over."

Clark picked her up and smoothly flew over to the bike. "You ride back home, and I'll fly over you, watching. Okay?"

"Yeah, thank you," Samantha said as she buckled her helmet.

Clark disappeared for a second and then returned with the vase. "Where's your dad?"

Samantha sighed. "He was out at the grocery store."

"And you said Jean was out of town."

Samantha nodded. "She's at the school in New York. She'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay, then I'll call her tomorrow evening to talk to her about what happened."

Samantha took a breath. "Yeah, okay." Samantha turned her bike around and mounted it. "Ready?"

Clark nodded. "But I do want to thank you for helping me. You did an excellent job. Very impressive." He patted her on the shoulder.

Samantha laughed. "Thank you, but I'll still be grounded for an eternity."

Clark shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Well, you know you're not supposed to come out and do things like this, but you won't be grounded forever."

Samantha grinned. "Maybe Superman can put in a good word for me."

"I don't know," Clark started floating up and grinned. "I hear he's pretty strict with punishment."

"So, I ended up being grounded for a month," Samantha finished her story.

Martha nodded. "Wow, Clark never told us about that."

Samantha shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

Jonathan leaned back in the recliner. "But you really did handle that well. I'm impressed."

Samantha smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Kent."

Now Jonathan understood why Clark defended Samantha so much. Jonathan had just heard about one event, but there were probably other times Samantha had helped Clark, Lois, or John. Clark did not give his secret out; Samantha and her family had earned his trust.

The back door opened, and John walked in, followed by Lois and then Clark. Jonathan looked over. "Everything okay?"

Clark smiled and glanced at his son. "Yeah, everything's fine."

John looked at Samantha, and she smiled. He looked at his watch. "I'm going to go up to bed."

"Okay, buddy." Clark patted John on the back.

John kissed Lois on the cheek and said good night before he went upstairs.

A few minutes later, Samantha said good night to everyone and went upstairs too.

John was in front of her door, dressed in his pajamas. "I thought you'd never come up," he whispered.

"Everything okay?" Samantha asked.

John nodded. "Yeah, fine. You'll never believe what we did, though."

"What?" Samantha said. She didn't want to tell John that she already knew. She wasn't sure how he would respond.

John narrowed his eyes. "Kryptonite. Don't you already know?"

Samantha looked to the floor.

"Yeah," John said. "I thought you did." He nodded towards his room. "C'mon. We'll talk about it."

He explained to her what Clark said and then described the pain he felt.

Samantha nodded. "I know, I felt it too."

John tilted his head. "You did?"

"Yeah." Samantha glanced out of the room. "Your grandparents were pretty worried about what happened, actually."

"Hmm, well I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For making you feel that pain," John said.

Samantha shook her head. "You didn't make me. It just happened."

John tapped his watch. "Well, better get a few hours in." He said good night as Samantha walked out of the room.

"And she just bent over in pain," Jonathan explained.

"Wow," Clark moved his eyebrows. "I wasn't expecting that to happen."

"Oh, you should have seen her," Martha said. "I was so worried."

Lois nodded. "You should have seen John."

Clark looked at Jonathan. "Is Samantha okay now?"

Jonathan nodded. "And John?"

Clark sighed. "He's fine. He took it really well."


	4. Chapter 4

Samantha woke up in her bed. "Johnny," she whispered to herself. She slid out of the bed and leaned out into the hallway. John was at the top of the steps, fully dressed.

"Hey, John!" Samantha whispered.

He turned to face her.

"What are you doing?"

John grinned at her. "Stopping a bank robbery." He started walking down the steps.

Samantha sighed. "Okay, wait for me downstairs. I'm coming too."

Samantha closed the door. She quickly put on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and her sweatshirt on top. She stepped out of the room and looked down the hallway. No one else seemed to be awake. She quietly walked down the steps and met John in the kitchen.

He smiled. "Ready?"

Samantha shook her head. "John, we can't do this." She glanced back toward the stairs. "Let's just tell your dad."

John looked determined. "No, we're going to stop this robbery, just the two of us."

"We'll get caught. Someone's going to find out we left the house."

"We'll finally get to do something. You don't have to come if you don't want to." John shrugged and turned toward the door.

Samantha squinted her eyes. "You know I won't let you go alone."

John nodded. "And you don't want to miss out on the fun. Let's go." He opened the back door and they walked out of the house. John checked his watch. "It's 11:30 now. We should have plenty of time to get there. I'll run and you…"

Samantha was already floating a few feet off the ground when John looked over at her. "How fast can you go?"

Samantha shrugged. "I've never had a reason to find out." She bent her knee and moved higher into the air. Samantha put her hands out, with her palms facing away from her. Samantha pushed her hands down and zoomed forward. "Whoa…" She turned around and gave a thumbs-up to John.

He smiled and ran so that he was standing below her again. "Will you be okay to fly into town?" he called up.

Samantha nodded. "I should be."

"Good." John grinned. "I'll meet you there."

Samantha pushed her hands out and again and flew forward. She looked down and smiled as she saw the ground stream behind her. She looked ahead and moved higher into the air. She had never levitated over a long distance. This was incredible! She was flying into town! "This is so cool!" she said to herself.

John watched Samantha as she took off towards town. He smiled as he watched her figure shrinking in the distance. They had never had a chance to use their abilities like this. He was excited and knew the night would be amazing. John jogged after Samantha and then bent slightly forward, taking off at super speed towards Smallville Savings and Loan.

John got there first, as he had expected. Sam could fly fast but not nearly as fast as he could run. A few minutes later, he heard a whisper and looked around.

"John, up here."

John squinted his eyes in confusion and then titled his head up. Samantha smiled and waved to him from the roof of the bank. "Come up," she said. "The roof is clear."

John nodded. He took a step back from the building and looked up. Samantha had backed away from the edge. John bent his knees and pushed off the ground, soaring up into the air. He bent his knees again and landed gently on the roof.

Samantha stepped next to him. "Nice jump." She giggled.

"Thanks."

"Were you waiting long?"

John shook his head. "Only a few minutes. You fly pretty fast."

"Thanks." Samantha blushed. After a moment, she said, "What should we do now?" She looked around. The only lights in the night shimmered from the street lamps below. Downtown Smallville seemed to be asleep. _Except for two thieves_, she thought.

John checked his watch. "It's about a quarter of now. Guess we'll wait 'til they come."

John held up his hand. "Wait, I hear something." He walked toward the back of the building and peered over the edge. He nodded to himself and walked back to Samantha. "They're here," he whispered.

Samantha's eyes grew wide. "So what do we do? How should we stop them?"

John thought for a moment. "How about we let them get into the bank. Then if they don't trip an alarm, we make sure they don't get away."

"Okay…"

John looked down at the roof and squinted his eyes. Samantha knew he was switching to X-ray mode. John walked across the roof, looking at the bank's interior. He blinked and looked over at Samantha. "They just go in. Sam, can you use your telekinesis to stop them?"

Samantha shook her head. "I need to be able to see what I'm doing…" She paused for a moment. "Hold on, I have an idea. How long can you use your X-ray vision?"

John shrugged. "I've never timed it to see how long. I guess I could keep it up as long as I wanted, but I don't know."

Samantha took a breath. "Well, what about this? You watch what they're doing and I'll…I'll try reading your mind to see what you see. Then I could move things, do whatever, to stop them."

John looked into her eyes. "Think that'll work?"

Samantha raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "We could try. It'll be easier if we hold hands, though. Direct connection."

"Okay." John held out his hand and she grasped it.

"Let me know when you're in X-ray mode." Samantha smiled and closed her eyes.

John squinted his eyes again and searched for the robbers below. When he found them he said, "Okay, Sam."

On John's words, Samantha let her mind blank out. She had practiced connecting with her mother's mind before. Jean was the perfect teacher to help Samantha hone her abilities, but even with perfect instruction, Samantha had no way to practice her abilities regularly. And now was the test. Once she got to the point where she would see whatever John saw, Samantha knew she could hold the connection. The difficult task was getting there, allowing another mind to completely flow into her own. Samantha took a deep breath. All these thoughts clouded her mind and she needed to clear it to connect to John, to stop the robbery.

After a moment, Samantha smiled. "Got it…" Now she saw through the roof too, as John's eyes swept over the bank.

John moved his eyes towards the back of the bank. "See them?"

"Yeah. They're walking toward the safe." Sam watched as John shifted his gaze down. Something shone bluish-white on both men, near their hips. "What's that?"

"Guns," John said slowly. "They're armed..."

Samantha closed her eyes tighter. "You're used to seeing things in X-ray. Are they wearing jackets or anything?"

"Why?" John asked the question but looked for the answer to her question. "Yeah, they are, but they're loose."

Sam relaxed her eyes. "Should I get rid of their guns?"

John shrugged his shoulders. "Think you can?"

Samantha took a deep breath. She moved her hand out in front of her. "Focus on the guns again." Samantha jerked her hand up and both men's guns floated out of their belts.

"Sam, be careful." John looked around and let his gaze stay on a counter. "How about under there?"

Samantha held her breath as she moved the guns away and slid them below the counter. "Did they notice?"

John looked back at the men. They stood near the wall. "I don't think so. Look, they're at the safe."

"Oh, okay."

One of the men backed away from the safe.

"What's going on?" John asked Samantha.

Samantha smiled. "Watch."

The second man backed away too.

John laughed. "You're spinning the dials!" A moment later, John was serious again. He noticed that one of the men put a hand to his side. "Uh oh. He knows his gun is gone."

Samantha continued confusing the men. Using her telekinesis, she ruffled papers on the counters.

"Sam, you're hand is getting warm…"

Samantha ignored John. She moved the plants around, floated them near the men and then made them zoom away. The second thief jumped back in fear.

"Oh! Did you see that? He has no idea what's going on!" Samantha giggled. "Probably thinks the bank is haunted."

John started to worry. "Yeah, how about we finish up?"

"Okay, okay." Samantha flicked her wrist. "There, I tripped the alarm."

"Good." John blinked his eyes and turned to her.

Clark opened his eyes and sat up in bed. He rubbed his eye with his hand and yawned. He had trained himself to pay attention to signals for help, even in his sleep. No matter what the hour, he was willing to help anyone, but he wished sometimes that he could have a full night's sleep. He didn't need to sleep much, but he appreciated the uninterrupted time. Clark squinted his eyes and focused his ears on a distant ringing.

"Definitely an alarm," he said quietly. Clark looked over at Lois and smiled. She lay on her side with one leg bent and the other locked straight. One of her arms was under the pillow and the other gracefully rested in front of her. Clark leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Lois," he whispered, "I've got to go out."

"Hmm," Lois responded in her sleep, "okay, Smallville."

Even in her sleep, Lois used the nickname she gave Clark. Clark quietly laughed as he carefully stepped off the bed so that he wouldn't disturb his wife. Clark stepped over to his suitcase and unzipped it. He dug to the bottom and pulled out his suit. "Hmm, wasn't expecting to need this for a day or two." Clark glanced back at Lois and in a second, he zoomed out of the Kent house and took off into the sky.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" John asked.

Samantha nodded her head a little and looked at him. "Yeah, fine. Why?"

John moved their hands up. "You feel really warm." He reached for her other hand and gently squeezed it. "Your hands are really warm."

Samantha narrowed here eyes in confusion. She let go of John's hands and held her own in front of her. She wiggled her fingers back and forth, opened and closed her hands, and then turned them, palms facing the roof. "They feel normal to me…"

John touched the back of her hand. "But they're hot, burning." When John removed his finger, Samantha noticed a reddish tint in her skin.

"What's happening?"

John turned his head. "Uh oh. Sirens. The police are coming."

Samantha still looked at her reddening hands. She turned her hands over again, palms up, and jerked her head back as two bright beams of light shot out of her palms and up to the sky.

John tilted his head back and watched them dissipate in the air. "Whoa! Sam…where did that come from?"

Samantha's eyes widened in surprise. "I don't know. I just…"

John shifted his glance from her again for a moment and saw a police car racing down the street. "Well, whatever it was, we have to figure it out later. Right now, we've got to get out of here. Come on."

Clark still heard the ringing, and he flew towards it, into downtown Smallville. He straightened his body and slowed his speed as he saw two red beams shoot up into the sky. "What is that?" He leaned forward and flew ahead at full speed.

John walked to the edge of the roof and jumped down into the alley. He turned to see Samantha float down to him. Her eyes were distant, as if she were thinking of something else.

When Samantha landed next to him, John said, "Should I um…" He curved his right arm in half an embrace and held his other one out in front of him, bent at the elbow.

"What?" Samantha asked.

"Carry you."

"What??"

"Really. I'm serious. The fastest way back is me running. No offense, but you can't fly that fast, so I can carry you." John looked at her, waiting for a response.

"Well, yeah, but…"

"But what?"

Samantha sighed. "Nothing." She turned sideways so John could lift her up with one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. "This definitely takes the awkward factor to a new level."

Clark landed on the roof of the hardware store, thinking the red beams originated from somewhere near there. He scanned the area with his X-ray vision. Clark saw Smallville Savings and Loan across the street and realized it was the source of the ringing. A police car parked in front of the bank, and Clark saw two men inside desperately trying to get out.

"Ready?" John asked.

"Yeah." Samantha draped her arms loosely around John's neck and shoulder. She smiled. "Damsel in distress."

John grinned. "Yeah right." He turned back towards the bank. "They could have gotten out by now."

Samantha shook her head, her eyes sparkling. "Nope, I sealed the doors for a few minutes."

John let out a breath. "Excellent." He jogged towards the street. "I'm taking off."

Clark's jaw dropped as he recognized two people in the alley behind the bank. Then Clark saw his son zoom out at super speed with Samantha in his arms. Clark shook his head. "No way…" He looked back at the bank and jumped off the building. Clark greeted the police officers and wrenched open the bank's door. He ran inside, grabbed the two criminals, and walked back outside. He held them while one officer handcuffed them.

The officer tipped his hat. "Thank you for you help, Superman."

Clark smiled. "Any time." He glanced up and then jumped into the air, heading back to the Kent farm.


	5. Chapter 5

John gently came to a stop behind the Kent house and lowered Samantha. "You okay?"

Samantha nodded. "Yeah, that was really fun!"

John laughed.

"Seriously, we should do that again some time."

"Yeah, but right now we need to get back upstairs." John pointed to the corner window. "That's the room I'm staying in." He pointed to the next window. "That's your room. Can you float us up?"

"Sure." Samantha reached for John's hands. "Not hot anymore."

John shook his head and looked down at their hands. "No."

They moved up to the second floor. Samantha held up one hand, palm out, near the window.

"Oh," John said. "I unlocked it before we left."

"Ah, you took time planning this."

John grinned. "Of course." He pushed the window up and when Samantha moved them a little higher, he slid back into the room. He turned around to face Samantha. "I'll go help you into your room."

The light clicked on and Samantha looked into the room.

"Or you'll stay here and tell me about what happened."

John turned around to face his father. "Heh," he said nervously. "Hi, Dad."

"Hi, John," Clark said seriously. He leaned forward slightly to see Samantha outside. "Samantha, come in please."

John held Samantha's hand as she stepped in through the window. She glanced once at Clark but then down to the floor. He was more intimidating when he was in the suit.

"So, kids…" Clark looked at both of them. "John, I always admire your creativity," Clark said tiredly and leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. The top of the S peeked out from below his arms. "What's your excuse for where you two were?"

John furrowed his eyebrows. "Uh, walked out to the barn?"

"Hmm," Clark shook his head, "not your best effort. Samantha?"

Sam sighed. "We were at Smallville Savings and Loan—"

"Sam!" John turned to her.

Clark kept his gaze on Samantha and held up his hand to quiet John.

"We stopped a bank robbery there," Samantha finished.

Clark raised his eyebrows. "Well." After a moment he said, "You two, meet me downstairs in the kitchen. We don't need to wake everyone else up with this." John nodded and began to walk out of the room. Samantha followed, and Clark walked back to his bedroom.

Samantha and John sat at the kitchen table next to each other. A moment later, Clark walked down the steps in his pajamas. He walked over to the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of milk. He leaned on the counter and faced them, watching them for a minute before he said anything. He took a sip of milk. Then, "You two stopped a robbery at Smallville Savings and Loan."

John nodded.

Clark scratched his head with his free hand. "How'd you find out about it? I heard the alarm, but you were obviously there ahead of time."

Samantha sighed. "When we went into town earlier, John and I walked past the bank. I picked up on two guys' thoughts and found out they were going to break into the bank at midnight."

Clark raised his eyebrows as he took another sip of milk. "Wow. So you decided you could go and handle it yourselves."

Samantha looked sideways at John. John kept his gaze on the table but said, "Actually, Sam wanted to tell you so you could go stop it. I told her not to say anything."

Clark nodded. "And you know you're not supposed to do anything like this. You're not supposed to use your abilities in public. You're definitely not supposed to go out and stop robberies."

"Yeah..."

Samantha pursed her lips. "Except that we saw this as our chance to finally do something. We wanted to use our abilities to help."

Clark was surprised, not by her remark but by the fact that she voiced it. Samantha tended to be very quiet and respectful around him. Her tone was not argumentative, but she had voiced a disagreement, her disobedience. Clark walked over to the table and sat across from them. "So tell me what you did, what happened."

John described how he and Samantha traveled into town and waited for the thieves to break into the bank. Samantha explained how she was able to see what John saw in X-ray vision and what she did with her telekinesis.

"And then something weird happened," John said.

Clark leaned forward in his chair. "What do you mean 'weird'?"

John looked to Samantha to continue. She nodded. "I don't know why, but my hands got really warm. The only difference, though, was that my hands looked a little red. I turned my hands, palms up, to look at them better, and then……"

Clark nodded. "Then?"

"I don't know, two beams of light shot out." Samantha placed her hand on the table. She pointed to the center of her hand. "Just right out and straight into the sky. And then the heat was gone." She shrugged and looked at Clark.

Clark leaned back. "I think I saw it. They were red?"

"Yeah."

Clark nodded. "But you don't know why it happened."

Samantha shook her head. "No. It's never happened before."

Clark traced the lines on the wooden table with his finger. "Well, you've inherited your abilities from your mother, but this heat beam…"

Samantha took in a breath. "My dad."

Clark raised his eyes to meet hers. "Exactly. Were the beams similar to what he can do, except with his eyes?"

Samantha swallowed. "Yeah. And my uncle, he can shoot beams from his hands."

"So your ability developed like his," John continued.

Samantha placed her elbows on the table and leaned her cheek against her other hand. "Wow."

Clark leaned forward across the table. He gently held Samantha's hand on the table and turned it. "Did it hurt?"

Samantha bit her lip and shook her head. "No, not at all. I said John and I were holding hands. He noticed my hand was getting warmer, but I didn't feel anything."

Clark opened Samantha's hand and pushed gently into her palm. He sat forward so he could see it better. He squinted his eyes and Samantha knew he had switched into X-ray mode. She kept a small smile to herself as she noticed that John and his father moved their eyes exactly the same way. Clark blinked and said, "Your hands look normal to me."

Samantha nodded. "Yeah, like it never happened."

He sat back in his chair and sighed. "This hasn't happened before?"

"No," Samantha shook her head. "Tonight was the first time."

"Well, it's good that it didn't get out of control." Clark looked at John and tilted his head. "You guys got back here pretty fast."

John grinned. "Yeah, I ran."

Clark nodded. "And Samantha?" He asked even though he already knew the answer.

Samantha let out a giggle. "John carried me."

Clark smiled a little, amused. "Oh yeah?"

"I had to. It was the fastest thing to do." John blushed.

"I'm sure." Clark took his glass to the sink and rinsed it, grinning while his back was to the teens. He turned back towards the table and leaned on the counter again. "Well, I don't want to encourage the two of you, but you did a good job tonight."

Samantha and John glanced at each other and smiled.

Clark continued, "You stayed out of sight and you stopped the robbery. But…" He walked back towards the table. "You still broke the rules. When we get back to Metropolis, I'll talk to your parents, Samantha, about what happened. We'll decide the punishment for the both of you."

John sighed.

Clark glanced up the steps. "In the meantime, don't mention anything about it." He looked back at Samantha and John. "If you don't want to see me angry, you definitely don't want to see my dad." Clark took a step towards the table. "Samantha, you can go upstairs to bed. We'll finish this tomorrow."

Samantha nodded and stood up. John pushed his chair away from the table.

"No," Clark held out his hand. "John, you stay. I need to talk to you for a minute."

Samantha raised her eyebrows at John, but he only shrugged. Clark saw the exchange but didn't comment on it. He watched Samantha as she walked up the stairs and then sat down at the table again across from John.

"John," Clark started, "why did you and Samantha go to stop the robbery tonight?"

John narrowed his eyes. "Dad, we wanted to help."

Clark shook his head and looked at the table. "No, I don't mean that." He made eye contact with his son. "I mean why did you go, why did you think it was okay to go? Someone could have gotten hurt."

John scoffed. "Dad, come on—"

"Seriously. I saw the guns on the bank floor, which means those two guys were armed. If one of you…."

"But Dad, I'm—"

Clark kept his voice even. "John, we don't know for sure if you're bulletproof, and I don't want to find out, okay? Yeah, I know you're practically invincible, but we've never had a reason to test it out. We shouldn't have to. And Samantha—"

"She can handle herself."

Clark lifted his eyes. "Oh yeah? Last time I checked, she could get hurt."

"Yeah, but she can put a force field around herself and nothing gets through."

"And that's really impressive, but there's no guarantee that she could do it fast enough. If something happened….I don't know. I should be able to look after two teenagers for a weekend. You left without me knowing."

John sighed. "I'm sorry that we took off like that, and I know we broke the rules. But I can handle myself and so can Sam. Even without her abilities, she can defend herself. Did you know she has her black belt test coming up next month?"

Clark shrugged. "No, I didn't know that, but I knew she took karate."

"Yeah." John smiled. "She's been training since she could walk."

Clark leaned his arm on the table. "Good, but that's still no excuse for what you two did."

John looked down at the table. "Dad, we had too," he said quietly.

Now Clark was confused. "What do you mean, 'had to'?"

John took a deep breath as he propped his elbow on the table and held his head in his hand. "Dad, why are you Superman?"

Clark sat back in his chair. "So I can help people."

John narrowed his eyes. "Is that all? You don't have another reason?"

Clark frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "I have these special gifts, and I use them to help people. What more do you want?"

John looked past Clark, his eyes unfocused as if he were seeing something else in his mind. "I think it goes beyond just helping people."

Clark leaned on his arms. "Then tell me what you think."

"You **have** to help people," John said, looking directly into his father's eyes.

Clark smirked when he saw John's blue eyes flicker, but he didn't fully understand what John said.

John continued, "You have to help people because you're not happy doing anything else. Yeah, you're one of the best journalists out there, you have a good family, but if you couldn't go out and help people, you wouldn't be happy."

Clark tilted his head. "Where are you getting this from?"

"Sam and I feel that way. I think your feeling is a lot deeper than ours, though. A lot stronger."

Clark sighed.

John kept talking, but he had that unfocused expression again. "For the past few years, ever since my powers have been getting stronger and I can use them a lot better, I've been thinking about how I could help people. I mean, I imagine myself doing things, stopping bad guys, and I wish I had the chance to actually do it."

"Well," Clark sat up, "you're right that helping people makes me really happy, feel really good, like I belong. It's not just because I can, but I didn't know you felt that way too."

John smiled, but he still didn't look at his dad. "Maybe I shouldn't be saying this, but Sam and I do do little things in school, things no one would notice."

Clark raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "Like what?"

John shrugged. "Little stuff. Sometimes when someone drops something and I'm nearby, I catch it as it's falling. They say good reflexes, but I use a little of my speed."

Clark narrowed his eyes.

"Hey," John waved his hand in protest, "just a little. And not often. Only when I can do it without other people thinking something's up."

Clark nodded. "Okay, and what about Samantha?"

"Oh, she can get away with a little more." John smiled. "The other day, some big guys were picking on a little kid in the hall between classes. Freshman. Sam and I walked by and saw the fight start. The big guy took the kid by the collar and slammed him against the locker. Sam closed her eyes and I held her hand so we could continue walking. I looked back towards the kid, and he looked a little confused." John giggled, seeing the scene again in his head. "Sam held the kid a little with telekinesis so he wouldn't go into the lockers too much. Kind of pillowed the wall."

Clark nodded with a small smile.

"But there were a hundred kids that walked by that fight, and no one knew anything weird happened except the kid who got beat up."

Clark moved his gaze to the side. "You should always be careful of how you use your powers, even if you think you're being safe."

John nodded. "I know, Dad. It's just that...well, we want to help people, but we don't really get to. I mean, I know you were going out in high school and stopping bad guys and stuff."

Clark laughed and breathed out through his nose. "Yeah, because people were affected by the Kryptonite in Smallville and they were hurting others."

John continued, "Still. And I know Sam's parents didn't go out on their own, but they were at the school. They used their powers there and they had to go out to help sometimes. Sam and I can't do that."

Clark nodded, propped his arms on the table, and leaned against his crossed fingers. He sighed. "I don't know what to tell you, John. You know how Mom and I feel about you using your abilities in public. You know that Sam's parents feel the same way about her. We can't just say, 'Okay, go patrol the streets of Metropolis.' Yeah, tonight things went well. You stopped the robbery and you did a good job. But that won't happen every time. It won't be so smooth every time, and if something happens..."

"But, Dad, we don't even have a chance to have something go wrong. I don't want something bad to happen either, but still..." John paused for a moment and then said, "What would you have done if Grandpa told you not to go help people when you were in high school?"

Clark tilted his head. "I probably would have gone out anyway." He smirked. "Actually, a couple times he did tell me not to go, and I did."

John sat back in his chair. "Yeah. I don't know, maybe that's part of the reason why I wanted to go tonight. Even though I know the rules, I really wanted to stop those guys. And it's not because I don't want to listen to you or anything—"

"You just want to help people," Clark finished the sentence.

"Exactly," John sighed. He shook his head. "I'm sorry Sam and I went out tonight. We really should have told you about it instead. We just wanted the chance to help."

Clark nodded as he stood up. He motioned for John to stand, too. "Understandable enough, but you know there are still consequences."

John nodded. "I know, Dad. Grounded?"

Clark nodded his head. "We'll work out the details with Sam's parents tomorrow when we get back to Metropolis. Let's get some sleep for now."

John nodded as he started up the steps first. "I always wondered about that, Dad."

"What?" Clark said as he followed his son.

"You know we don't need as much sleep as everyone else, and you need less than I do. So why do you always sleep, like, normal hours?"

Clark laughed quietly. "You're right, and I don't sleep the entire night. But, I don't know—"

"Makes you feel human?"

Clark patted John's shoulder as they reached the top of the stairs. "Yeah, I guess. Everyone needs some down time. Good night, son."

"'Night, Dad."

When John walked into his bedroom, Samantha stood at the window, looking out into Smallville's sky. She heard his footsteps and turned around. "Hey," Samantha whispered.

"Hey," John tilted his head, wondering what she was doing there.

"What did your dad want to talk to you about?"

John quietly closed the door behind him. "Just some more about the robbery." He walked to Samantha and leaned down to look out the window.

"Oh."

"You weren't listening in?"

Samantha narrowed her eyes. "No, of course not." She playfully hit his arm.

John giggled. "Okay, okay."

"So…"

"So he didn't seem too mad, but we're grounded."

Samantha nodded. "Fair enough." She walked to the bedroom door and slowly opened it. She peeked out into the hallway and then turned back to John. "Good night, John."

"Good night."

Samantha smiled and stepped out into the hallway. John listened as she walked into her bedroom and then crawled into bed and pulled the sheets around himself.

On Sunday morning, everyone met in the Kent kitchen for an early breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and bacon. Clark helped Jonathan with the farm chores until noon. After lunch, Clark, Lois, John, and Sam packed their things back into the car. They said goodbye to Jonathan and Martha and thanked them. Clark waved to his parents as he pulled out of the driveway.

Outside of the Summers' apartment, Clark helped Samantha take her things upstairs. Jean opened the door and smiled. "Oh, hi. How was your weekend?"

"Great," Samantha said with a smile. "Thank you, Mr. Kent," she said after Clark put her bag down inside.

Clark nodded. "Yeah, the kids had fun." He shot a glance at Samantha, and she looked down at the floor with a smirk.

"That's good to hear," Jean said.

"Yeah." Clark looked past Jean into the apartment. "Is Scott home yet?"

Jean shook her head. "No, he should be back in two hours."

Clark nodded. "Okay. Well, Lois and I need to talk to you two about something."

Jean squinted her eyes.

"Nothing urgent." Clark shook his head. "Just something we need to talk about. So, if you could come over to our place for dinner tonight, we can talk afterwards. Samantha can come too."

"Okay…" Jean nodded slowly. "Thanks for the invitation. We'll be there."

Clark smiled. "Great. See you later then." He turned to walk out the door.

Jean walked after him. "Yeah, later." She waved at Lois and John in the car and then closed the door once Clark drove away. Jean turned around to face Samantha. "What was that about?"

"Um...it might be better if we waited until later at the Kents'."

Jean narrowed her eyes. "So you know?"

Samantha nodded. She looked at the floor to avoid her mother's glare. "On Saturday night, John and I…."

Jean took a step closer. "What?"

"We stopped a robbery in Smallville." Samantha lowered her head a little more.

"What?!?"

"It worked out well, really." Samantha finally looked at her mother and slid her foot across the carpet. "We stayed out of sight, and we stopped the bad guys. No one saw us."

Jean looked up at the ceiling in disbelief. "You and John went out on your own?"

"Yeah…"

"Because?"

"We wanted to help."

Jean crossed her arms over her chest. "That's just great. What else?"

"That's it for that part…but I found out something else I can do."

"What?" Jean leaned forward now, a glimmer of concern in her eyes.

Samantha wiggled her eyebrows. "Heat beams."

Jean shook her head. "What do you mean, like Scott?"

Samantha nodded. "Yeah, like Dad, except from my hands." She walked over to the desk and ripped a piece of paper out of her notebook. She crumpled it up and held it in front of her with one hand. Samantha raised her hand to her eye level and squinted in concentration. Jean watched from across the room. After a minute, Samantha sighed. "I can't do it now. I was really worked up before, I guess."

Jean nodded and walked over to her daughter. She leaned down and picked up the ball of paper. "You'll get it eventually. I'm sure Dad can help you control it." Jean tossed the ball up and down absentmindedly. "No one got hurt, did they?"

"No," Samantha shook her head. "The beams went straight into the air."

"Okay, good." Jean moved a piece of hair out of her face. "Well, this is a lot to take in at once. We'll talk about it later when Dad gets home and then over at the Kents', I guess. But you're okay, honey?"

Samantha smiled. "Yeah, fine."

Over dinner at the Kents' house, Clark explained what happened over the weekend. Jean and Scott both kept their eyes on him as Clark talked about the bank robbery, and Samantha and John kept their eyes on their plates, not wanting to risk any dark looks from the parents. The finished eating and Clark looked around the table at everyone. His eyes rested on John and Samantha. "Well, how about you two go upstairs and we'll discuss what we're going to do." After a moment, Clark added, "As far as punishment." John nodded and stood up, followed by Samantha. As they walked up the stairs, Clark called after them, "And no listening in."

"That goes for you too, Sam," Jean added.

John sighed when he and Samantha reached the top of the stairs. "We can wait in my room." He led Samantha down the hall and then plopped on his bed. Samantha moved a beanbag chair out of the corner and sat facing John.

"So how bad do you think it's going to be?" She asked and grimaced, looking out of the bedroom door.

John moved his position so he was lying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows. "Well, grounded for sure."

Samantha nodded, "Yeah."

"But besides that, I don't know. I mean, what else could they do to us?"

Samantha shrugged her shoulders, and they sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Samantha leaned her head toward John. "Hey, don't."

John was focusing hard on something but Samantha's words broke his concentration. "Ah, come on," John protested. "How would they know if I was listening?"

Samantha grinned. "You heard them. No super hearing for you and no mind reading for me. They'd know if we tried, so we should just wait."

"Fine, you win." John sighed. "Always following the rules."

Samantha frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Hey, I don't always."

John grinned. "More than I do, anyway."

"I—" Samantha stopped herself. She couldn't argue when John was right.

A few more minutes passed and then Lois called up, "Samantha, John, you can come back down."

John sat up and sighed. "Here we go."

They reached the bottom of the stairs together and their parents were standing around the dining room.

Clark shifted his weight forward and back on his feet and then spoke, "Okay, this is what we decided." He moved his eyes from Samantha to John. "You will both be grounded for two weeks, starting tomorrow. To school and back home. No movie theater, no mall, no hanging out with friends…" Clark paused and then said, "Even with each other." Samantha and John turned to each other, amazed that their parents would actually separate them. Clark glanced at his wife and at Jean and Scott. "We decided the time you spend together should be limited for a little while."

John narrowed his eyebrows. "But, Dad…"

Clark shook his head. "No, listen. When we go over to each other's houses, you'll be able to spend time together, and you'll still see each other in school. But outside of that for two weeks, no." Clark turned back to Jean.

"After that," Jean said, "we're going to try something out. We all agree that you need an outlet."

Clark nodded. "We'll just have to see how it goes."

Three Weeks Later

Samantha sat in the living room with her trigonometry notes and worked on problems out of the textbook.

"Hey, anybody listening? First Bank of Metropolis. Two guys are trying to break in." Clark's voice came over the radio. Jean and Scott had modified the unit in the past week so Clark could radio them when he was out flying. Now he could send more than just his position. Samantha rushed over to the receiver. There was a knock on the door and she knew it was John. "Copy that," Samantha said into the radio. "We're on it."

She opened the door for John and then picked up her sweatshirt that matched his. Clark hadn't allowed them to choose any type of logo or insignia, since they technically weren't allowed to do superhero work on their own. Instead, Lois suggested matching black sweatshirts; nothing unique that anyone could identify. Jean and Scott suggested only night outings for now. Less light, more cover. So here they were, going out to do what they were grounded for before. But now they had permission. And adult supervision. Literally.

Samantha pulled on her sweatshirt as she and John walked out of the apartment. "Mom, we're going," Samantha called as she closed the door.

Samantha and John jogged down the block and into an alley. He turned and held his arms open. Samantha sighed as John lifted her up. "Think this part will get any less awkward?"

John smiled. "Maybe not. Ready?"

"Yeah."

John took off at super speed and didn't stop until they were in an alley behind the First Bank of Metropolis. Samantha stepped down, held John's hands, and levitated to the roof.

John laughed as he X-rayed the bank. "We live in a comic book." He smiled and held Samantha's hand. "Whenever you're ready. Just like last time."

Samantha squeezed his hand affectionately. "Okay, all set. Hmm, the Adventures of…we never came up with names."

John walked with her across the roof. "Just Sam and John for now. I don't think we're ready to go full-time with names yet."

The End


End file.
